full pdf of issue - Middle East Journal of Family Medicine

TECHNOLOGY AND FAMILY MEDICINEseeking activity, physicians haveexpressed concern regarding accessto misinformation and patients’interpretation of available onlinecontent. Many doctors believe thatonly qualified medical professionalsmay adequately assess and interpretexternal sources of information.Defensive attitudes may arise fromthe Internet having a “levelingeffect” on access to informationand, subsequently, on the patientphysicianrelationship. Peopleare likely to redefine their desiresand intentions over time becausethey frequently are uncertain.Paradoxically, a patient’s interestin knowledge may not alwaysaccompany an interest in the medicaldecision-making process (Ben SGerber & Arnold R Eiser, 2001).According to studies of patientphysicianrelationships, althoughpatients typically express a highdegree of interest in learning abouttheir illnesses and treatment, theirpreference for actual participation intreatment decision-making is highlyvariable (J P Kassirer, 2000).The internet is increasingly beingused for healthcare delivery.Health promotion and educationinterventions have been successfullydelivered online (Sharline Martin,et.al, 2002).Healthcare users are morewilling to adopt the internetfor its many potential benefits, forexample, increased efficiencies,lower cost, easier access to mediarichinformation and knowledge andfaster decision making. Present-dayhealthcare consumers, for example,demand easy access to multi-mediainformation and in-depth knowledgein order to make informed decisions.Similarly, healthcare providersand managers are interested inreducing costs while preserving andmaintaining high quality healthcare(D. Keith McInnes, et.al, 2006).The Internet will have a profoundeffect on the practice and businessof medicine. Physicians, eagerto provide high-quality care andforced by competition to offeronline services, will introduce e-mail and patient-friendly Web sitesto improve administrative servicesand manage common medicalconditions. Patients will identifymore health information onlineand will take more responsibilityfor their care. The doctor/patientrelationship will be altered: Someaspects of electronic communicationwill enhance the bond, and otherswill threaten it. Patients will haveaccess to vast information sourcesof variable validity. Many physicianorganizations are preparing for theelectronic transformation, but mostphysicians are unprepared, andmany are resistant (Akerkar SM et.al,2005).MethodsThe present study is explorative innature. A Cross sectional surveywas conducted in the non metrotwin cities of Hyderabad andSecunderabad during the monthof January 2011 to April 2011by using questionnaires whichwere distributed to 100 generalpractitioners. The sample consistsof general practitioners with basicM.B.B.S qualification and havingat least 1 year of experience. Theentire greater Hyderabad city wasdivided into east, west, north andsouth regions and from each regionequal sample respondents wereselected. The questionnaire consistsof multiple choices, dichotomous andcontingency questions related to thetrends of internet, and its effects onclinical practice were extracted andresponses were analyzed. The mainoutcome measures are self reportedrates of internet use, perceivedeffects, and the role of medical websites in clinical practice. It is largelydescriptive and categorized as anon-experimental qualitative study.The data is analyzed by MatrixAnalysis which is in the form of flowcharts, diagrams and pictoriallyrepresentation as well as writtendescriptions.DiscussionThe Demography of the study is shown left:Figure 1: Total Number of GeneralPractitioners who were part of theResearch Sex WiseMIDDLE EAST MIDDLE JOURNAL EAST OF JOURNAL FAMILY MEDICINE OF FAMILY VOLUME MEDICINE 10 ISSUE • VOLUME 7 7, ISSUE 10 45